President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, who arrived in Omsk to participate in the XVI Forum of Interregional Cooperation, held a meeting with President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin.

The Heads of state discussed prospects for the development of bilateral relations and key issues of cooperation at the regional level.

Kassym-Jomart Tokayev expressed gratitude for the hospitality, noting the effectiveness and fruitfulness of the forum.

“In 2003, thanks to the efforts of our First President Nursultan Nazarbayev and your efforts the first meeting at the interregional level was held here. This mechanism was launched at full capacity and proved to be an effective tool for cooperation between the regions. It is extremely important and very significant that the volume of trade between the regions of our countries is growing. We have achieved great success in industrial and agriculture cooperation, therefore, I believe, a very big groundwork has been made," the Head of State said.

Vladimir Putin noted the importance of the traditional forum that links the regions of Russia and Kazakhstan.

“Relations between our countries are developing successfully. Last year, turnover growth was over 14%, investments continue to grow. We meet regularly, however, there are always topics that require our special attention,” the Russian President said.